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Transition: Progress on Bill's vetting?

Per the transition office, Obama and Biden hold private meetings in Chicago today and have no public events.

Speculation over Hillary Clinton becoming Obama's secretary of state continues to dominate the transition chatter. The New York Times has this piece (and it's not your ordinary story; it's by investigative reporters Van Natta and Becker): "While aides to the president-elect declined Monday to discuss what sort of requirements would make it possible for Mrs. Clinton to serve as secretary of state, they said Mr. Obama would not formally offer her the job unless he was satisfied that there would be no conflicts posed by Mr. Clinton's activities abroad."

"Associates of the Clintons said that Mr. Clinton was likely to have to make significant concessions and that he was inclined to do so. Among other things, they said, he would probably have to agree not to take money for speeches from foreign businesses that have a stake in the actions of the American government. Another obvious issue, Democratic lawyers said, would be whether Mr. Clinton's foundation should accept money from foreign governments, businesses or individuals for the foundation's philanthropic activities and if it should disclose those donors publicly."

But Politico says the vetting of Bill Clinton is not going well. Obama "aides are becoming exasperated by the Clinton camp's pokey response to demands for extensive information about former President Bill Clinton's finances, according to numerous Democrats involved in the process. 'The sense among the no-drama Obama world is: This is well on its way to winning best Oscar for drama,' said one well-connected Democratic official."

More: Democratic officials make it sound as if the job has been all but offered to Hillary Clinton. But the ball is in her court to show that the former president's many foreign and financial entanglements would not pose huge conflicts of interest if she were the nation's chief diplomat, the officials said."

Channeling First Read, the Boston Globe notes the would-be irony if Obama were to pick Clinton to be secretary of state. "[H]e would be giving her oversight of an area where the two former rivals diverged sharply during their prolonged primary battle: foreign policy… It is the one arena in which Obama and Clinton articulated significantly different visions."

Politico's Ben Smith adds, "From his supporters on the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, to campaign aides of the soon-to-be commander-in-chief, there's a sense of ambivalence about giving a top political plum to a woman they spent 18 months hammering as the compromised standard-bearer of an era that deserves to be forgotten."

Bloomberg News reports that Gates' chances of staying on at the Pentagon rise if Clinton is tapped as secretary of state. Do note the very positive words that Jack Reed, someone Obama relies on for national security advice, has for Gates.

The Washington Post delves into the overall vetting process for every Obama appointee. "Inquiries into candidates' backgrounds grow deeper as each administration's scandals add new thresholds. In the 1980s, a history of marijuana use killed some nominations. During the past decade, scandals about domestic workers clouded transitions. Clinton's nominee for attorney general, Zoe Baird, withdrew from consideration when it became public that she and her husband had hired a Peruvian couple living in the country illegally as a babysitter and chauffeur. Eight years later, Bush's nominee for secretary of labor, Linda Chavez, withdrew after she was found to have provided haven to an illegal immigrant from Guatemala. Obama's questionnaire has four questions about domestic workers."

The Washington Post also notes the number of aides being hired by Obama who have Capitol Hill experience, and it speculates this could mean that Obama ends up with a better relationship with the Hill than any previous president in quite some time.